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Happy 2023 Hazy Friends! It’s January and you know what that means, time to clean out the cobwebs and dust off your stained glass! Every year I participate in the Apartment Therapy January Cure and I absolutely love it. It sets me up with a clean house and a list of projects to work on throughout the year. This month I am showing you how to do exactly that, with your glass!
In this step-by-step series I will walk you through three different cleaning methods for your glass artwork and when to use them.
Picture this.
As the sun slowly sets, you gaze over to the window to catch your beautiful stained glass bathed in the golden hour light. You are expecting to see the glass glistening in all the right ways, the perfect Instagram moment. Instead, to your dismay, that perfect golden hour light highlights every single speck of dust and a fingerprint (even though you swore you did not touch the glass before hanging it!) UGH.
This is the moment when you realize, your window art needs a little love to bring it back to its shiny glory. Enter, The Basic Dust.
How often to Basic Dust:
Every 2-3 weeks/ or as needed. It really depends on how dusty your house is and how much you like to clean!
Tools Needed:
+ A clean soft cloth I prefer a flour sack dishtowel like these: Utopia Kitchen Flour Sack Dishtowels (by purchasing from this link I earn a small commission). Other glass artists I have talked to prefer microfiber cloths or auto cloths.
+ A toothpick or small soft object to help you get in the nooks and crannies. Make sure this object is made of a material that will not scratch the glass, think plastic or wood.
+ Your two hands and a desire to clean
Using the flour sack dish towel or soft cloth of your choice. gently wipe down the piece removing surface dust. Wipe along the solder lines where dust has accrued as well as along the edges of the piece. Take care to not apply too much pressure to the glass while wiping down. Direct pressure to the face of the piece could result in stress fractures in the glass or weakening the leaded joints.
Using the flour sack dish towel or soft cloth of your choice. gently wipe down the piece removing surface dust. Wipe along the solder lines where dust has accrued as well as along the edges of the piece. Take care to not apply too much pressure to the glass while wiping down. Direct pressure to the face of the piece could result in stress fractures in the glass or weakening the leaded joints.
Once you have removed the surface dust, take your toothpick (or other small object of choice) and wrap the pointy end in your soft cloth. Gently run the covered tip along the solder seams. Make sure to get into the corners and around the edges of the piece.
When cleaning along the solder seams be gentle. Many stained glass pieces are made using the Tiffany Method. This technique uses an adhesive copper foil around each piece of glass that the solder is applied on top of. Pushing into the seams or along the edges too hard could result in lifting the foil and compromising the integrity of the art.
Once you have removed the surface dust, take your toothpick (or other small object of choice) and wrap the pointy end in your soft cloth. Gently run the covered tip along the solder seams. Make sure to get into the corners and around the edges of the piece.
When cleaning along the solder seams be gentle. Many stained glass pieces are made using the Tiffany Method. This technique uses an adhesive copper foil around each piece of glass that the solder is applied on top of. Pushing into the seams or along the edges too hard could result in lifting the foil and compromising the integrity of the art.
Give your piece a final polish by gently buffing the face and edges in a circular motion. this will restore the shine to the glass as well as to the lead/solder lines.
Give your piece a final polish by gently buffing the face and edges in a circular motion. this will restore the shine to the glass as well as to the lead/solder lines.
Gently hang the piece back in your window and admire your work!
If you have questions, drop them in the comments and let me know if you tried this out!
Gently hang the piece back in your window and admire your work!
If you have questions, drop them in the comments and let me know if you tried this out!